It started with a song sung by a wonderful singer, a gem of a vocalist not yet famous (hey guys if you want a live concert from a fab singer, this is the guy) friend, Sanjeev Keni. He sent his recording on WhatsApp yesterday in a music lover’s group both of us are part of and honestly, I was bowled over.
Floored.
Knocked out.
Enchanted.
Mesmerized.
Spellbound.
It is always a tough task to sing a song originally sung by a legendary singer, who has left a huge footprint on the hearts and minds of all her billion plus followers and not just render a good cover version but also sing it so well that it becomes your own.
Sanjeev effectively erased all traces of the original singer, Bharatratna Lata Mangeshkar and made it his own. He sang full throatedly , absolutely uninhibited and let his voice soar. That it did, reaching the highest highs and gliding effortlessly like a kite using the thermals. The singing has become much much more than a cover version. Here it is… https://usaupload.com/6RWz/AUD-20230204-WA0069.mp3
The song is from a movie Zameen Asmaan made by Bharat Rangachari with a very young Sanju Baba with a lady who I really liked, Anita Raj. The original song now. Lata Mangeshkar herself. Anjaan a much undercelebrated lyricist wrote the wonderful words and Pancham makes magic. His creativity induces a sublime and addicting sensation of bliss but you never get satiated. https://youtu.be/vDFyP6gliFQ
Check out both versions, folks. And do let me know which one you liked more. Have fun, folks. Enjoy your Sunday.
. . The moon has always fascinated me. The Snow Moon as it is being called, will actually be seen today, 5th February. This is the full moon about 45 minutes after moonrise last evening. Despite having gazed at the moon at length for so long and so frequently, its mystique doesn’t wear off. . Here’s to one more sighting of our only natural satellite, a soul buddy if you will. . Selene will undoubtedly continue to enchant and fascinate me in the months and years to come and will probably be the reason I get more seriously involved with astrophotography. . #Moonlit_Skies #Nightscapes #Full_Moon #Romancing_the_moon #Nature #Hopelessly_In_Love_With_Nature
आज ४ फेब्रुवारी. आज माझेच नव्हे, तर भारतातील प्रत्येक हिंदुस्थानी शास्त्रीय संगीतप्रेमींचे लाडके असे गायक नव्हे तपस्वी म्हणजे भारतरत्न पंडित भीमसेनजी जोशी यांचा शतकोत्तर पहिलाच जन्मदिवस! माझे महद्भाग्य की त्यांच्या पायांना मी स्पर्श करू शकलो. दुर्दैवाने त्यांच्या आजारपणात माझा त्यांचा संबंध जास्त आला, त्यामुळे मला शरपंजरी पडलेले भीष्माचार्य कसे दिसत असतील याची जाणीव झाली.
माझे वडील वायुदलात होते. १९६१-६२ मध्ये आम्ही तेजपूरला होतो. तेव्हा सुरुवातीला बरेच दिवस आमचे एकच महाराष्ट्रीय कुटुंब तिथे होते. काही दिवसानंतर दिघेकाकांचे लग्न झाले. तिथे असलेले इतर मराठी भाषिक वायुदलातले तसेच सैन्यातले लोक आमच्याकडे नेहमी येत जात. त्यातील एक पुण्यातील दत्तात्रेय जोशी यांनी व केळकर काकांनी मला जी गाणी शिकवली, त्यातील हे एक.
गुळाचा गणपती म्हणजे सबकुछ पु लं! हे गाणे अमर आहे, गदिमांनी बोल लिहिले आहेत आणि संगीत दिले आहे दस्तुरखुद्द पु लं नी! चित्रपटात प्रमुख भूमिका ही त्यांचीच आहे. कथेचा गाभा थोड्या प्रमाणात १९४७ साली प्रदर्शित झालेल्या The Secret Life of Walter Mitty शी जुळणारा आहे, पण इतके फरक आहेत, की त्यावर बेतलेला किंवा त्याचीच रुपांतरीत आवृत्ती आहे असे वाटत नाही. हे गाणे ऐका: https://youtu.be/tbXsqtxsea4
गायले आहे भीमसेनजींनी. नावापुरते किराणा घराण्यातील पण इतरांसारखा पातळ आवाज बिलकुल नव्हता. माझी आतेबहीण विदुषी हिराबाईबडोदेकर यांची शिष्या होती, भीमसेनजी गायलालागले की डोंगरावरून कोसळणाऱ्या एखाद्या उन्मुक्त प्रपाताप्रमाणे वाटे. श्रोते त्यांच्या सुरांच्या प्रवाहात अगदी चिंब भिजून वाहत जात. त्यांच्या इतक्या ताकदीचा आवाज मी आयुष्यात ऐकला नाही. पु ल देशपांडे यांच्या अंतरीच्या नाना कला बहुश्रुत आहेतच. पण संगीतकार म्हणून ही ते खूप कल्पक होते. त्यांची संगीताची जाण आणि अभ्यास त्यांच्या निर्मितीत दिसून येतात. भीमपलास रागात बांधलेले हे गाणे आहे. पंडितजींनी किती रंगून गायले आहे, अगदी ६१ सालापासून मला मोहून टाकले आहे.
इंद्रायणी काठी
….. ग दि माडगूळकर
इंद्रायणी काठी, देवाची आळंदी
लागली समाधी, ज्ञानेशाची
ज्ञानियाचा राजा भोगतो राणिव
नाचती वैष्णव, मागेपुढे
मागेपुढे दाटे ज्ञानाचा उजेड
अंगणात झाड कैवल्याचे
उजेडी राहिले उजेड होऊन
निवृत्ती, सोपान, मुक्ताबाई
पडद्यावर पु ल आणि सर्व श्रोते गाण्यात डोलायला लावण्याची किमया भीमसेनजींची! अगदी तल्लीन, मंत्रमुग्ध व्हायला हवेच सर्वांनी!https://youtu.be/fB-phlSkJ4c
आज स्वरभास्करांच्या तपस्येची आठवण सर्व संगीतप्रेमींना नक्की येणारच. त्यांच्या एकमेवाद्वितीय कार्याच्या बाबतीत चपखल बसणारी उक्ती म्हणजे:
झाले बहु, होतिल बहु, आहेतहि बहु, परंतु यासम हाच!!
पंडितजींनी आयुष्यभर आपल्याकडच्या संगीताची मुक्तहस्ते सर्व श्रोतृवृंदात उधळण केली, आमच्या आयुष्याला खूप समृद्ध केले. त्यांच्या तपस्येला कोटी कोटी प्रणाम!
The morning oldies show played this song and took me back 50 years or so. A song I had first heard on DD Mumbai’s Sunday evening movie shows.
It is one of the many movies by Bollywood made based on the Invisible Man theme. Mr X was made in the late 50s by Nanabhai Bhatt(father of the Schizophrenic Mahesh). The movie had “the magic potion makes a man invisible, falls into the wrong hands” theme. It had amazingly Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jaywant in the lead. Ashok Kumar in the movie became the first leading man not to be seen on-screen in a Bollywood movie. Ashok Kumar was actually conned by Nanabhai Bhatt in making the movie. He liked the kernel of the idea discussed with him. Out of quirkiness, he said he would charge Bhatt ₹2000 per day that he would work for him. Bhatt agreed. Amazingly he made Ashok Kumar work for him on only 2 days. The first day, he shot the sequence when Ashok Kumar drinks the potion and becomes invisible and the second time, he shot his reappearance sequence, paying him ₹4000 in the bargain. The rest of the role was shot with a body double swathed in a mile of bandages and wearing shades as well as a hat.
So Nanabhai Bhatt got Ashok Kumar on his billboards for virtually a song. The music was by N Datta. Listen to this beautiful melody by Asha Bhosle. https://youtu.be/48J5ByBex08
Will surely make anyone reappear from the netherworld as well. Tanvir Naqvi wrote the lyrics. The first line was used later in an O P Nayyar song , again sung by Asha Bhosle from the movie Humsaya with music by OPN.
The theme appealed so much to the filmmakers and it was remade some 7 years later with some twists in the tale as Mr X in Bombay with Kishore Kumar and Kumkum. That has a wonderful musical score by Laxmikant- Pyarelal. Now Nanabhai Bhatt got reinspired by the invisible man theme with Mr X in Bombay succeeding, and made Adhi Raat Ke Baad the very next year with Ashok Kumar (who surely must have asked for a lump sum this time around) with Ragini. Ashok Kumar accused of the heroine’s father’s murder, becomes invisible to nail the real culprit, rescue the (by now kidnapped by the goons)damsel in distress and clear his name. This movie flopped miserably at the box office and thankfully Nanabhai didn’t make another movie on the theme.
Enjoy the lovely song, have a wonderful weekend and stay healthy and happy
. . If I had to make a list of everything that every human feels happy to see, it would surely include a young of an animal, a baby’s guileless smile and a blooming flower. . These are truly daily miracles that lift your gloom. Every bloom dispels doom. . Chrysanthemum × morifolium (also known as florist’s daisy and hardy garden mum, or in China, júhuā), is a hybrid species of perennial plant from family Asteraceae. . In China, they have been around since 500 BCE. In 1630, more than 500 varieties were already known and described there. In Europe, especially in Holland, they have been known since the mid-17th century, but their general dissemination took place only in the 19th century. Chrysanthemum was first appreciated in China as a medicinal plant.
It is classified in one of the oldest Chinese medical books, Shennong Ben Cao Jing as a superior drug and is part of the products related to the search for immortality. . From the 5th century they’ve been appreciated as ornamental plants while being used for medicinal properties. A treatise was written as way back as the 11th century. . I love Chrysanthemums due to the pure joy and their staying fresh for a prolonged time. . #Flowers_In_our_Garden #Pure_Joy #Nature #Beauty_Around_Us
Bollywood has frequently used the mechanism in its plots of a ménage à trois, stopping short of the physical aspect of the three cornered situation. With about equal frequency it may be “ek phool do fool” or vice versa. A similar tool was used in an early 60s movie, Shama. It had Vijay Dutt (who reminds me of a Marathi actor pair, Chandrakant and Suryakant Mandhare, the former was an accomplished painter as well) , Nimmi and the last of the big singing actresses , And arguably the best of the genre, Suraiyya. Noorjahan was in my honest and personal opinion neither as good an actress nor as versatile a singer as Suraiyya. The Malika-e-Tarannum part was just indulgence in hyperbole as the corrupt nuke-bearing country of habitual beggars is obsessed with. How else could they glorify and justify the dalliance of an alcoholic general with testosterone on his brain (but not anywhere else) with a corpulent lady caked with tons of make up and a bouffant that was clearly a hairpiece. The two did whatever they could together while his rapacious army cannibalised a more populous part of his own country, raping and butchering millions, and plundering it, leading to a secession and bloody birth of a nation.
The central theme of the movie is the eponymous Shama (Nimmi) being forced by circumstances to arrange the marriage of the man she loves. Suraiyya and Vijay Dutt complete the other two sides of the triangle. The movie directed by Lekhraj Bahri, had dialogues and lyrics by Kaifi Azmi and sublime music by Ghulam Mohammad. Just listen to the wonderful ode to love, filmed on both the beauties while the man in question dozes off. https://youtu.be/nKWniIwhqYA
Kaifi saab’s verse is fabulous.
धड़कते दिल की तमन्ना हो मेरा प्यार हो तुम मुझे क़रार नहीं, जब से बेक़रार हो तुम
धड़कते दिल की तमन्ना हो मेरा प्यार हो तुम
खिलाओ फूल किसी के किसी चमन मे रहो जो दिल की राह से गुज़री है वो बहार हो तुम
धड़कते दिल की तमन्ना हो मेरा प्यार हो तुम
ज़ह-ए-नसीब अता की जो दर्द की सौग़ात वो ग़म हसीन है जिस ग़म के ज़िम्मेदार हो तुम
धड़कते दिल की तमन्ना हो मेरा प्यार हो तुम
चढाऊँ फूल या आँसू तुम्हारे क़दमों में मेरी वफ़ाओं के उल्फ़त की यादगार हो तुम
धड़कते दिल की तमन्ना हो मेरा प्यार हो तुम मुझे क़रार नहीं, जब से बेक़रार हो तुम
धड़कते दिल की तमन्ना हो मेरा प्यार हो तुम
Using the same voice for two actresses is not unusual in Bollywood, although more often you’ll expect to hear this kind of a song in two voices.
Suraiyya being an accomplished actress brings in a plethora of emotions into her voice as well. All the great singers would do this. Rafisaab carried an extra edge of pain knowing fully well the chiselled blocks of stone who would mouth his lines were incapable of depicting any emotion. https://youtu.be/-P8YaI1BoGw
An amazing melody that will resonate inside my head all day today.
Stay blessed, stay safe, folks. Have a wonderful weekend
. . The sun set over the mountains. . A thin miasma of fog draped the countryside as the bird hurried to reach home at the end of a tiring journey. . Everyone does reach the destination after the journey. . And resumes anew after a dark night. . #Journey_Of_Life #Sunset_Photography #The_Destination_Nears #Introspection #Intriguing_Ideas
Beatles were pretty much the rage when we were in school. The Fab 4 had just about the most fanatic fan following worldwide of all the major bands of the time and Beatlemania seemed omnipresent no matter which part of the globe they toured. It was a phenomenon that was unique and hitherto unheard of both in terms of its intensity and geographic footprint. Every teenybopper even had their hair cut in the style of the Beatles and police had to be called in at many places to maintain a semblance of order as screaming girls (& boys) raised the decibel level and tore the barricades down. The Fab 4 loved and revelled in the frenzied adulation, of course, and churned out hits by the dozen in a career that lasted barely a decade. The influence has lasted much longer, though the effects are still apparent half a century later. The royalties from their songs continue to earn millions.
The song was written by Paul when he was still a teenager, and it is amazing a 14 year old schoolgoing boy was looking 50 years into the future. Although Paul wrote the song himself, in keeping with their understanding when they formed the band, the songwriting credits on the Sergeant Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band are in the joint names of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. When they formed a band, that’s how most songs appear. Very few songs were written by Ringo or George.
I love the song which has a strong, very noticeable background with 3 clarinets (two regular ones and one bass clarinet) throughout. https://youtu.be/HCTunqv1Xt4
I wonder how a teenaged boy could conjure imagery of someone who would be 50 years older, think of what was happening in their lives and make it so relatable even today.
When I’m sixty four
When I get older losing my hair Many years from now Will you still be sending me a Valentine Birthday greetings bottle of wine
If I’d been out till quarter to three Would you lock the door Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four
You’ll be older too And if you say the word I could stay with you
I could be handy, mending a fuse When your lights have gone You can knit a sweater by the fireside Sunday mornings go for a ride Doing the garden, digging the weeds Who could ask for more
Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four
Every summer we can rent a cottage In the Isle of Wight, if it’s not too dear We shall scrimp and save Grandchildren on your knee Vera, Chuck and Dave
Send me a postcard, drop me a line Stating point of view Indicate precisely what you mean to say Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form Mine for evermore Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four
Amazing song that was after the recording by the Beatles up, sped up at Paul’s specific request to make his voice sound younger.
When the YouTubers made the video, they posted pics of Paul with Linda, his wife who sadly passed away from a malignancy 3 years after it was diagnosed. https://youtu.be/OTgbWmaxu5s
The song was written more than a decade before the two ever met, Linda had come to England on a photo assignment. On May 15, 1967, while on a photo assignment in London, Linda Eastman (as she was known at the time) met Paul McCartney at the Bag O’Nails club, where Georgie Fame was performing. They met again four days later at the launch party for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at Brian Epstein‘s house. When her assignment was completed, she flew back to New York City. A very unglamorous beginning to a very durable marriage. They married a couple of years later and stayed together throughout. Paul’s later marriages weren’t anywhere close to this on the happiness index.
A lovely song that has given me much joy for more than half a century. When I did pop the question on the opportune day, I was gratified to get a response in the affirmative.
Stay healthy and happy folks and may you enjoy a wonderful weekend
. . The sun rose lazily yesterday on a wintry morning and encountered an unseasonable, thick group of clouds that it hid behind. The hide and seek lasted a few minutes and was enchanting to watch. The life giving star along with the earth’s axial tilt is responsible for all life forms evolving on our mother planet. Sadly a fact not realized by all the inhabitants who take pride in their dominant status in the league of animal forms.
. Isn’t it sad the only species which has created irreversible changes in the planet is us….. . . #Environment #Sunrise #Save_The_Planet
This would surely be one of the first songs by the amazing singer, Geeta Dutt, that I heard in my life. I think it was in Tezpur. Moloy Nandi, the very first friend I have ever had, had just come to stay with his dad. His mother would sing this song and since I’d heard it so many times already, my cousins in Pune were surprised in the summer of 63 when I sang this in my aunt’s place.
The movie Do Bhai made around the time India finally saw the Brits leave had music by Burmanda. He was responsible for giving the singer greater exposure early on in her career, albeit that her debut was due to K Hanuman Prasad’s serendipitiously passing by on the street where she lived and accidentally hearing her voice as she did Riyaz , it was Burmanda’s films that made her famous. This movie is unusual as I remember the song although it had the singing corpulent diva Noorjahan who later entertained the butcher of Paapistan, Yahya Khan. The Nero-esque behaviour of the criminal Yahya (who should have been tried for genocide in Bangladesh) is best shown that he fiddled with his muse who emitted the musical notes as millions were persecuted, raped and slaughtered in Bangladesh. Human history has never seen anything on this scale before. But he {& the Paapi criminal nation got away with murder, (Pun intended), thanks to Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger actually encouraging him to do stuff like this, spelling out he should kill “3 million”}
Despite Noorjahan’s singing in the movie, it is this song that I remember. Kamini Kaushal looks amazing. She was the leading lady of the movie. https://youtu.be/zaka9-uC0S4
The lyrics are by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, who would later of course team up with Madan Mohan to leave an indelible mark in Bollywood musical history. The lyrics of the song are amazing, too.
मेरा सुन्दर सपन बीत गया मैं प्रेम में सब कुछ हार गयी बेदर्द ज़माना जीत गया मेरा सुन्दर सपना बीत गया
क्यों काली बदरिया छायी है क्यों कली कली मुस्कायी है मेरी प्रेम कहानी खत्म हुई मेरा जीवन का संगीत गया मेरा सुन्दर सपना बीत गया
ओ छोड़ के जाने वाले आ दिल तोड़ के जाने वाले आ आँखें असुवन में डूब गयीं हँसने का ज़माना बीत गया मेरा सुन्दर सपना बीत गया
हर रात मेरी दिवाली थी मैं पिया की होने वाली थी इस जीवन को अब आग लगे, आग लगे इस जीवन को अब आग लगे मुझे छोड़के जीवन मीत गया मेरा सुन्दर सपना बीत गया
Let’s listen to this song once again which would be so sadly prophetic for Geeta Dutt in her own personal life. A case of life in a way replicating art. https://youtu.be/qTp1BEZ5WBc
Stay safe, healthy and happy, folks. I will rewind to some 60 years back and try to recollect the fun time with Moloy.
Aniruddha Chandorkar 